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he may not return to work until labor day -- but congressman jesse jackson junior's office is still not telling his constituents why he's on an extended leave from congress. good afternoon. i am steve sanders. and i'm dina bair. we welcome our viewers who are watching us around the country on wgn america and on the web. wgn's julian crews is live at the rainbow push convention with our top story. julian? many say the congressman has an obligation given that he is up for reelection and has to serve his constituents currently in has been two weeks since he released a statement saying he was undergoing inpatient treatment for an unspecified condition then came the news that the ailment was more serious than believed it necessitating a medical leave

from congress and then there were unconfirmed reports on what is ailing the congressman his handling of the matter stands in contrast to another member of the washington delegation from illinois senator mark kirk was offering full disclosure moments after he suffered his stroke back in january this is so raising questions about the way the congressman is handling his situation ... >>coming to the congressman's defense is former senator rowland perot'sland burris >>he certainly knows something about getting caught in a swirling media frenzy if you remember the rod blagojevich appointment situation he was

embroiled in ... just days before the congressman went on leave a former fund- raiser and confidante was arrested by the fbi for health care fraud ... it was reported jesse jackson directed him to are for rod blagojevich campaign funds in exchange for appointing him to the vacant senate seat this is something congressman denies ... but the timing is interesting the credit agency 'moody's" has downgraded chicago public schools credit rating. cps status dropped from stable to negative' after the district proposed a budget that would drain its $432 million in reserves. cps faces a $665 million deficit and the budget calls for pay raises for teachers. moodys cited the downgrade to cps $6 billion in general obligation bond debt, uncertainty on teachers contracts, and the end of a pension holiday in 2014. the lower rating could cost cps an extra $2 million in interest payments for future bonds issued.

of legislators awarding scholarships will come to an end in illinois. governor patrick quinn will sign a bill that kills the program after this summer. over the years, lawmakers have given waivers to the children of political allies. the program only has one rule. the waivers must go to students living in their district. a grand jury has subpoenaed the records of senator annazette collins amid questions that she improperly gave scholarships to

students outside her district. lake county health officials say they found mosquitoes that test positive for the west nile virus. workers sampled a mosquito pool in mundelein on july sixth. health officials say it's the first instance confirmed in lake county -- altho it's been confirmed in other areas near chicago -- including naperville and hinsdale. in humans, west nile can lead to illness and death. the illinois department of health reports that over the years, 34 people in illinois have contracted the virus, and three have died. peterson's lawsuit claims oak brook's former police chief and police commission chairman conspired to get him fired from his job as an oak brook police officer. peterson said thomas sheahan threatened to ruin him financially, spread rumors and tried to get him arrested after testifying that he hid three of drew peterson's guns during his father's murder investigation. he is seeking two-million dollars in damages. illinois is checking its unemployment records to find people who may be ineligible because they're in jail. the state says more than four- hundred inmates have been collecting unemployment. but it's unclear how many of them were only briefly locked up, and still eligible for payments. the investigation started after a state representative heard about fraud in his district. inmates were apparently calling the department of unemployment, telling them they were out of

work and couldn't find jobs. the taste of chicago kicked off this morning... whith a lot of changes this year. nancy loo is live with more on what you'll see, hear and taste at the big event. nancy? >>wait until you hear about what i'm tasting here steve ... it does not look credit even though there are lots of people here already that is because of the spacing of the vendors that's among the changes that the visitors will notice this year organizers hope this will get more chicagoans to revisit the taste of chicago festivities >>less is more that's the thinking behind this year's taste of chicago the turkey legs are gone and there are fewer restaurants taking part this year that's why this chef jumped and he said the shorter run of five days is ideal >>from an operations perspective

10 days was rough ... >>there are fewer but fancier food choices and people could enjoy this with more "elbo room" there are more options to visit around the buckingham fountain >>i have been coming for years and i like this year in a like the way it is spread around ... >>there's a chance for a sit- down dining experience but tickets have sold out outside visitors can still get a taste of what is being served indoors there's a unique free or offering for a limited time: asian carp sliders that's part of an effort to change perception by this fish and gourmet store ... >>this is a surface feeders not a bottom feeder this makes it tastier and more mild >>here is the finished product

the asian carp slider it is served with a tomato jalapeno chutney ... asian carp is a bony fish so they have removed all of the bones grounded up with garlic and olive oil i have had one it is very very good very tasty ... i will show you again how tasty this fish really is ... >>she isn't grimacing ... >>garlic olive oil and all that stuff isn't bad >>i have had it chinese style before and this is a far better variation

coming up its another freight train derailment this time in columbus ohio >>and the captain of the costa concordia finally talks after the disaster >>and what led to mitt romney getting booed at the naacp conference you know what i love about this country? trick question. i love everything about this country! including prilosec otc. you know one pill each morning treats your frequent heartburn so you can enjoy all this great land of ours has to offer like demolition derbies. and drive thru weddings. so if you're one of those people who gets heartburn and then treats day after day block the acid with

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try miralax. mirlax works differently than other laxatives. it draws water into your colon to unblock your system naturally. don't wait to feel great. miralax. a train crash, explosion and fire has forced evacautions in

columbus ohio. the freight train was hauling ethanol when it derailed and caught fire just blocks from a residential area early this morning flames shot high into the air and the fire was so intense one witness said it looked like the sun had blown up. a mile-wide area of the city was evacuated while firefighters and hazardous materials crews worked to contain the fire. two people were injured in the the captain of the ill-fated costa concordia cruise ship -- says he was distracted by a phone call when the ship capsized in january. two americans were among the 32 people killed -- when it ran aground off the coast of italy. the captain -- francesco schettino gave his first interview on italian tv last night -- after being released from house arrest. he says he doesn't accept full blame for the wreck -- only that he was "distracted". the carnival cruise line's parent company puts the blame on the captain -- and says he badly mis-managed the aftermath. former fbi director louis freeh says he'll release his report on penn state university's handling of the jerry sandusky sex abuse scandal tomorrow. freeh and his staff have been reviewing the case for eight months. at the same time -- the university plans to release its internval review of the case -- which was commissioned by the school's board of trustees. sandusky was convicted last month of sexually assaulting ten boys. two university officials still face trial on charges they covered up the allegations. the family of joe paterno says he played no role in a cover-up. attorneys for the former president of penn state -- say their client was never informed about the child abuse. in washington, house republicans plan to take another shot today at repealing president obama's health care reform law.

they say they can repeal the tax two weeks ago the president had the power to impose. even if the house votes to repeal the 2010 patient protection and affordable care act, the democratic controlled senate will not go along. the white house says the president would veto a repeal bill. the house has voted more than 30 times to scrap, defund or undercut the law since obama signed it in march of 2010. republican presidential candidate mitt romney is addressing the n.a.a.c.p. convention in houston today.. but not everyone likes his message, especially when it came to the health care reform law. >>i'm going to eliminate every non-essential expenses program i can find that includes obama care i will work to reform and save ... >>the crowd is boo-ing >>romney is hoping to win over some black voters with his pro- jobs message.. at a time when unemployment among blacks tops 14 percent. president obama won 95 percent of the black vote four years ago. yesterday in colorado.. romney said raising taxes on small businesses and job creators at a time when the country needs more jobs is the sort of thing only quote, "an extreme liberal"

would come up with. president obama recently shifted his campaign focus to ensuring that middle-class tax cuts don't expire at the end of this year. in iowa yesterday.. he renewed his pitch to extend the bush-era tax cuts for another year for families earning less than 250 thousand dollars. the president will meet with house and senate democratic leaders today in the oval office to talk about tax cuts. campaign pollsters call it the "marriage gap".. and it's helping president obama maintain his lead over mitt romney. the latest quinnipiac university campaign poll finds the president leading romney by three points overall.. 46 to 43 percent.. four months before the general election. but among *single* voters, obama holds a 20 point lead. romney leads obama by 13 points among married voters.. and also leads the president among both married men and married women.

there's now an "official" survival guide to make it through the fearsome and dangerous situation of ... a wedding day. the centers for disease control and prevention released the wedding season survival guide this week. the center says planning for a wedding isn't much different from planning for a disaster. tips include keeping a kit stocked with safety pins and sedatives... and being supportive of stressed-out brides. the guide also says to keep an eye on the sky because you never know when you might need to evacuate. just ahead: a new report about weight gain and its connection to quitting smoking. and, still to come this midday: the latest cell phone company to begin selling the i-phone. and later in lunchbreak: we're learning how to make two light mexican recipes .... a spicy shrimp dish and snapper with salsa.

peregrine financial filed a chapter 7 petition in u.s. bankruptcy court in chicago a judge issued an order to freeze its assets and for good cause for they violated federal law they are currently being investigated by the fbi and government regulators ... directv and viacom could not agree on programming fees so it dropped of viacom ... elsewhere

t-mobile customers could jump on the i-phone bandwagon the carrier may give the device next year because its parent company has a sales agreement with apple ... t-mobile has struggled to keep its contract customers for lack of an i phone or frank ... more than one in every 10 adults have begun their holiday shopping ... more than half a started say they can find the best deals early ... stocks are lower in today's trading on concern over earnings reports ... coming up next: why a woman is

filing a lawsuit after receiving an organ transplant also had there's more gun violence in chicago the search for the gunman after two girls were for months, i had this deep pain all over my body. it just wouldn't go away. my doctor diagnosed it as fibromyalgia, thought to be the result of overactive nerves that cause chronic widespread pain. lyrica is believed to calm these nerves. i learned lyrica can provide significant relief from fibromyalgia pain. and for some people, it can work in as early as the first week of treatment. so now i can plan my days and accomplish more. lyrica is not for everyone. lyrica may cause serious allergic reactions or suicidal thoughts or actions. tell your doctor right away if you have these, new or worsening depression, or unusual changes in mood or behavior, or any swelling or affected breathing or skin or changes in eyesight, including blurry vision or muscle pain with fever or tired feeling. common side effects are dizziness, sleepiness, weight gain and swelling

of hands, legs and feet. don't drink alcohol while taking lyrica. don't drive or use machinery until you know how lyrica affects you. with less pain i'm feeling better now that i've found lyrica. ask your doctor if lyrica is right for your fibromyalgia pain. [ female announcer ] with swiffer wet cleaning better doesn't have to take longer. i'm done. i'm gonna...use these. ♪ give me just a little more time ♪ [ female announcer ] unlike mops, swiffer can maneuver into tight spaces

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the 12 year-old is here and oak lawn had crest medical center in serious but stable condition ... the other little girl was treated and released and lots of pain but she will be ok her mother is fed up with all the gun violence: >>i am very man i am very angry and very upset right now and the person who shot my daughter will get caught ... >>and the emotional mother reacts to the senseless shooting of her 13 year-old daughter and three of her friends near cooper park they noticed a car that was speeding and swerving back and forth down the street >>my daughter thought there was something bad going on so she tried to get to safety >>before they could get out of harm's way >>she said a guy started letting off some gunfire and that's all she heard were the pops of the

gun >>she was hit in the backside she was treated and released her 12 year-old friend was shot twice in the stomach that friend managed to run to the nearby salvation army recreation center for help ... that center just opened >>this reinforces why this is needed here it's a safe haven >>the girls were not the intended targets and may have gotten caught in the middle of the gang crossfire ... >>we want to be sure there's no retaliation from this shooting >>it's time for the shooting to stop. all these young guys are into this and they're shooting people everywhere the wrong kids are getting shot ...

a police source says that the area where the shooting occurred is caught in the middle of an internal gang disputes ... a woman is suing the university of chicago medical center -- for implanting a cancerous pancreas. according to the sun times the woman -- identified as rashia wimley -- received the transplant four years ago. now the 39-year old wimley says she has been diagnosed with cancer as a result. the lawsuit includes the university of chicago -- the gift of hope organ and tissue donor network -- and the doctor who performed the procedure. the director of the transplant center says cancer is a known risk of the procedure -- but the benefits of a transplant far outweigh the risks. there's a new warning for parents about a danger posed by a common item in many nurseries. the consumer product safety commission has issued a safety alert about the strangulation danger posed by electrical cords on baby monitors. seven children have died in the last decade as a result of strangulation. the cpsc is urging parents to position monitors at least three feet away from the crib or play-yard.

regulators also recommend all baby monitors come with a warning label. four teenagers were just trying to cool off near a canal in california when they wound up being heroes. the boys spotted something floating down the canal in farmersville, near fresno. it was two and-a-half year old alice falk, who had wandered into the water and was swept about a quarter of a mile downstream. the rescuers say at first they thought she was a doll. >>as he got closer he said it's not a doll it's a real little baby ... i went down from that tree and picked her up the girl was taken to a hospital, but doctors say she'll be just fine. next, mike hamernik has your

full weather forecast. aspirin, really? i haven't thought about aspirin for years. aspirin wouldn't really help my headache, i don't think. aspirin is just old school. people have doubts about taking aspirin for pain. but they haven't experienced extra strength bayer advanced aspirin. in fact, in a recent survey, 95% of people who tried it agreed that it relieved their headache fast. what's different? it has micro-particles. enters the bloodstream fast and rushes relief to the site of pain. visit fastreliefchallenge.com today for a special trial offer.

it seems like the humidity is creeping back into the forecast ... >>that's right steve it will be warming up here in chicago but we desperately need some rain ... it's amazing the turnaround we went from one of the wettest years ever last year now we have dropped conditionsdrought conditions ... 90 degree temperatures will be returning

as early as tomorrow they're willing to through the weekend we could be looking at another heat wave next week here in chicago the models are split on this one but we're looking at mid 90 degree temperatures by tuesday it shouldn't be as hot as it was last week however ... temperatures along the lakefront right now are in the mid-70s ... when you get away from the lakefront there is a 10 degree temperature jump temperatures are into the 80s in the metropolitan area. the warming trend will be continuing the next couple of days.

there have been some while temperature swings in indiana and in michigan the sunburn times are 17 minutes at 1:00 over 40 minutes at 4:00 this afternoon there are some fading showers happening downstate we will see some moisture from that storm system in the gulf of mexico making its way up here but in the meantime it's producing flooding in the houston texas area and we have heat warnings out west some of that will be heading our way this weekend the chance of rain this weekend is very light it will be spotty

here and there we really need a good drenching of maybe 3 in. are more we will look for tomorrow to be around 90 degrees in joy this beautiful day mostly sunny skies around 88 degrees 80 degrees at the beaches ... for tonight it will be clear. not at school as the 64 decrees we had last night ... tomorrow 91 degrees 84 at the lakefront friday will become humanid.. and temperatures will remain in the '90s

time for today's trivia: in what year was baseball's national league formed? a. 1872 b. 1876 c. 1901 the answer still to come this midday....

the most destructive wildfires in colorado history has been contained. officials made the announcement yesterday the 29 square miles orwaldo canyon fire ravaged northwest colorado for two to three weeks killing two people and destroying 350 homes more than 30,000 people were forced away from their homes the

cause is still under investigation and the tensions boiled over at a court house in florida a brawl broke out after a hearing for a double murder relating to that's dates stand your ground a lot the murder suspect jason clair infuriated the victim's relatives when he blew a kiss at his family before leaving the courtroom he is accused of killing two brothers the victim's family and friends started throwing punches outside the courtroom after the hearing had been cancelled the stepfather was arrested along with a friend of the victims and their father jason clear is using the standard ground defense in florida say he shot the men after they beat him up time for sports: only four out of six all- stars from chicago played in kansas city, while the national league secured home field advantage in the world series yet again. bryan lahair and starlin castro both entered the game late last night. the tigers' ace justin verlander

struggled... with the bases loaded in the first, pablo sandoval triples, to drive in three runs. the a-l was down in the sixth when chris sale came in to but strikes out david freeze to end the scoreless inning. paul konerko also entered in the sixth, and he was hit by a pitch in his one at-bat... it was a knuckleball, so he's fine. the national league goes on to win for the third year in a row 8-0. here's a closer look at how chicago's all-stars performed: sale gave up one of his two hits to his boyhood hero, chipper jones. starlin castro flied out when he pinch-hit in the eighth, and finished the game at short- stop. bryan lahair grounded out in the ninth. adam dunn and jake peavy did not play... peavy was only going to be used in an emergency, and dunn actually gave up his planned at-bat in the fifth, so home-town player billy butler could play more. the cubs and sox will likely play each other only four times next season. major league baseball is trying to institute more balance in the schedule. the city series is expected to go down to a pair of games on the north and south sides each season. with 15 teams in each league next year, m-l-b also wants one interleague game every day of the year. n-b-a free agency begins today and the bulls have declined the options of c-j watson and ronnie brewer. brewer will test free agency, but the bulls told his agent he might be re-signed at a reduced salary. watson won't be coming back, while the bulls have three

day's to match omer asik's offer from the houston rockets. joakim noah's lingering ankle injury could factor into their decision. meanwhile, sources say the bulls will decide on kyle korver's $5 million dollar option by sunday. that's a look at sports. your live illinois lottery drawing is next. here are the winning pick three numbers: 1 0 7

here are the winning pick four numbers: 9 5 4 7 the power ball jackpot is $80 million join us this evening for that drawing

health officials think they now know what's to blame for the mystery illness that's killed at least 64 cambodian children. sources tell cnn an investigation by the world conclude the illness is caused by a combination of pathogens.. including streptococcus, dengue and the virus associated with hand, foot and mouth disease. the sources say investigators also found inappropriate use of steroids made the illness worse in a majority of patients. steroids can suppress the immune system.

japan's rare baby panda has died.. just one week after birth. this is shin-shin...the seven- year-old mother of the infant panda. she gave birth to the first giant panda to be born in the country in 24 years. locals celebrated the rare birth last week.. but the excitement was short lived. the un-named cub died from pneumonia after it's mother's milk accidentally entered its airway. zoo officials say 60 to 70- percent of baby giant pandas die within their first week. in medical watch.. how stress can create significant health risks for police officers. a study of police in buffalo new york reveals connections between the daily stressors of police work.. and obesity suicide, sleeplessness and cancer. 40 percent of the officers who took part in the study were obese. about one in four had metabolic syndrome.. a cluster of symptoms that includes abdominal obesity, hypertension, insulin resistance, type 2 diabetes and stroke. police who worked nights had a higher risk of metabolic syndrome than those on day shifts. nearly half the officers in the study worked a non-day shift.. compared to just 9 percent of u.s. workers.

a new report warns there's too little mental health care for america's growing population of senior citizens. the institute of medicine report says one in five seniors has a mental health or substance abuse problem.. and there are not enough doctors, nurses, and other health workers trained to meet their special needs. instead, the country is focused primarily on preparing for the physical health needs of an elderly population that's growing rapidly as more baby boomers age. smokers wgo kick the habit gain more weight than previously thought. researchers looked at more than 62 studies.. and they report ex-smokers can expect to gain up to eleven pounds in the first year after quitting. that's more than twice what women smokers say they would be willing to tolerate in order to quit. most of the weight was gained during the first three months.. and changes in body weight varied from person to person. the researchers say the weight gain is still "modest".. and the benefits of quitting smoking still outweigh the extra pounds.

wal-mart is planting a new chicago store in the grand boulevard neighborhood is one of the smaller neighborhood markets that will sell groceries it will employ 100 people when it opens in 2014 last week wal-mart announced a new market and little village and back of the yards ... a wal-mart superstore in pullman will open later this year ...home just got sweeter for a chicago area soldier who was severely wounded in afghanistan. wgn's randi belisomo has the story from lagrange. >>when the 24 year-old marine lance corporal returned to his family is lagrange, it was hard to get around ... >>i was banging around scratching the walls ... >>he was injured and afghanistan one year ago while on patrol he

slept on and i eat the losing both legs coming home now just got a lot easier >>it is great to see the fruits of their labor that helped me so much ... the nonprofit sears heroes at home put together a retrofitted home that is handicapped friendly with a wheelchair accessible bathroom the project was worth $40,000 and with the contributions they did it for 10,000 ... >>we need to help these veterans get resettled ... >>joshes at walter reed receiving treatment and his mother cannot wait for him to get back home ... >>it is restoring his dignity and making his life all lot easier >>family friends and the

community have been unbelievable helping me to make my life easier >>he is headed to bethesda for more treatment tomorrow he will be finished by this spring to return to a comfortable home and decide what to do next in his life lunchbreak is next. we're learning how to make two light mexican dishes .... a spicy shrimp recipe and snapper with salsa.

it's time for a lunchbreak... in today's lunchbreak we're learning how to prepare two light mexican dishes: camarones aquachile (shrimp in fire water) and snapper en salsa ajillo (filets of snapper in ajillo salsa). chef johnny hernandez is here from san antonio's "la gloria restaurant" he says these recipes are from the interior of mexico. thanks for coming in! these are two very authentic dishes that we feature at our restaurants so thank you for having me ... we are on the new part of the san antonio river. it is about a year and a half into what is a beautiful destination we have a wonderful culinary school there is a campus for the culinary

institute of america there now ... what we will make now is the shrimped the important thing about making ceviche is the freshness of the seafood you use. >>i really thought timing was a big deal as well you want those flavors to come together but you don't want it to get mushy. >>sometimes people over marinate the fish. you want to treated like sashimi ... what we do it

the restaurant is marinate for only about eight minutes ... we have the snapper in the pan we will add some more olive oil the key to this is the toasted garlic. the city todayceviche is based on a rich mexican heritage recipe and that's true of a lot of the food now in san antonio ... the

cuisine keeps changing but baitit is rooted in traditions. we are adding a little bit of to allaychili which varies in intensity depending on what you go for. we use a mild intensity for the snapper. >>you it red onion and serrano pepper

>>alot of the peppers and the salts are ground up according to mexican recipes that we follow ... we finish this with some fish stock and some butter there is a lot of simplicity in the dishes that we put together ... but the flavors are complex johnny hernandez, thanks so much for sharing these recipes. if you are headed to san antonio and want to visit his restaurant, go to: lagloria.com today's recipe or to watch the segment again.. log on to wgn tv

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time now for the answer to today's trivia question: we asked: in what year was baseball's national league formed? a. 1872 b. 1876 c. 1901 the answer is b: 1876. it was established in february of 1876. it was officially called "the national league of professional baseball clubs"... and one of it's first teams was the "chicago white stockings". we had a nice run of beautiful weather and we really need some rain >>there may be some hope this weekend ... not everyone will see those showers ... 88 degrees today 91 degrees tomorrow the you mitty will be here on fridayhumid conditions will be here friday ...